The parents of a teenager who died of cystic fibrosis are using his story to try to encourage more people to help sufferers.

Richard Ogden died on Sunday, just four days after he had a lung transplant to try to save his life.

The 19-year-old, from Edmondthorpe near Melton, had waited five months for a donor and his parents say if one had come forward sooner he may now be alive.

They want his story to be used to inspire people to carry donor cards so other sufferers survive.

Helping others

His mother, Veronica Bowden, said: "Richard would have been in a better position medically to withstand the operation had it occurred earlier.

"There is no doubt that would have been the cause because in the last two weeks before the operation his health deteriorated quite rapidly."

Richard was born with Cystic Fibrosis. The illness meant his lungs filled with mucus - and in its final stages it made breathing almost impossible.

His family hope that if more people can be persuaded to register as organ donor's then his death will not have been in vain.

Stepfather Mike Bowden said: "Richard would have liked the number of people on the organ donor list to be increased dramatically to help the lives of those people awaiting transplants."